God opens doors, builds His church, and brings the right people at the right time. In Corinth, Paul meets Aquila and Priscilla, receives encouragement from the Lord (vv. 9–10), and sees both Jews and Gentiles believe and be baptized (v. 8). Even through opposition and legal pressure, the gospel moves forward.
Later, we meet Apollos, a gifted speaker with partial knowledge—until Priscilla and Aquila graciously guide him in the truth. God uses Paul the builder and Apollos the encourager (1 Cor. 3:6). Everyone has a role in the mission.
🎯 Theme: Do not be afraid – Jesus is with you and has many people in a lot of places.
🌀 Reflection: Are you more like Paul, Priscilla, or Apollos in this season? How can you faithfully do your part in strengthening others?
💬 Mission Challenge: Find a way today to encourage someone in their spiritual growth—share a Scripture, pray with them, or send a kind word.
From Thessalonica to Berea to Athens, Acts 17 shows how different people respond to the same gospel. Some oppose it (v. 5), some examine it eagerly (v. 11), others mock it (v. 32)—but some believe (v. 34).
Paul reasons from the Scriptures (v. 3), explains the gospel in the marketplace (v. 17), and proclaims the one true God before philosophers at the Areopagus (vv. 22–31). His message climaxes in the resurrection of Jesus, the assurance that judgment is coming and that salvation is available to all who repent (v. 30).
🎯 Theme: God now commands all to repent, for He has fixed a day of judgment.
🌀 Reflection: Which group in this chapter do you most relate to—skeptical, searching, or surrendered? How can your heart remain open to the truth?
💬 Mission Challenge: Share one verse or truth from today’s reading with someone you know who is curious or questioning faith.
The gospel reaches Europe in Acts 16—and God’s sovereignty is on full display. The Spirit closes some doors and opens another through a vision (vv. 6–10). In Philippi, the Lord opens Lydia’s heart (v. 14), casts out a demon (v. 18), shakes a prison (v. 26), and saves a jailer and his household (vv. 30–34).
Paul and Silas, beaten and imprisoned, choose to pray and sing (v. 25). Their pain becomes a platform for praise and a witness that leads to salvation. Even injustice becomes an opportunity to defend the gospel and protect the young church (vv. 37–40).
🎯 Theme: Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.
🌀 Reflection: Where might God be using closed doors or unexpected circumstances to lead you or shape your witness?
💬 Mission Challenge: Encourage someone facing hardship today. Share how God has worked in your life during difficult seasons.
Acts 15 records the Jerusalem Council, where the early church had to answer a crucial question: Is Jesus enough? Some said Gentiles had to follow the law of Moses to be saved, but the apostles stood firm—salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone (v. 11, Ephesians 2:1-10).
The result? A joyful affirmation of the gospel and practical steps to preserve unity between Jewish and Gentile believers. Even when disagreements followed (vv. 36–41), the mission continued. Grace held them together and moved them forward.
🎯 Theme: Salvation is by grace, not by burdening others with the law.
🌀 Reflection: When differences arise, do you fight for grace and unity? How does the gospel shape your convictions and your conversations?
💬 Mission Challenge: Encourage someone in your church family today—especially someone different from you. Affirm your shared hope in Jesus.
The Holy Spirit came with power, just as Jesus promised, filling the believers and birthing the Church. Peter boldly preached Christ crucified and risen, and the Spirit moved—three thousand believed, repented, were baptized, and joined the family of faith. What followed was a Spirit-shaped community: learning, praying, sharing, worshiping. The Church was alive—and the Lord kept adding to it, day by day (v.47). That same Spirit still empowers, convicts, and unites us today.
🎯 Theme: Jesus was crucified according to God’s plan – but God raised Him!
🌀 Reflection: Are you making space for the Spirit and the Word to shape your daily life and church family?
💬 Mission Challenge: Share a truth from today’s chapter or offer to pray for someone today—just like the early Church, let Jesus be seen through your words and actions.
Acts begins with Jesus alive, risen, and still at work—this time through His Spirit and His people. Before sending them out, He told His disciples to wait for the promised Holy Spirit. Their mission wasn’t to restore a kingdom, but to be His witnesses—to the ends of the earth (v.8). So they waited, they prayed, and they trusted His timing. The Church’s story begins with worship, obedience, and dependence—and ours should too.
🎯 Theme: The Spirit empowers us to be witnesses to the risen Christ.
🌀 Reflection: Are you rushing ahead, or waiting prayerfully on God’s power?
💬 Mission Challenge: Tell someone you’re reading Acts—invite them to join you or ask how you can pray for them.
Let me clarify, specifically, what I’m thinking about Sunday coming being good news. I’m talking about the Lord’s Day, but I’m also talking about the Day of the Lord when He comes and gets His people.
This world is hard and full of tribulations and sorrows. There is good, and that can only be attributed to Jesus, but there is a lot of…well, a lot.
There’s a lot of pain. A lot of questions. A lot of reasons to feel weary, overwhelmed, or even undone. But Sunday is coming — JESUS is coming. And that’s good news.
It’s good news for us because Sunday is the Lord’s Day — the first day of the week when we remember that Jesus rose from the dead, victorious over sin and death. It’s also good news because it reminds us that the Day of the Lord is still ahead — when He will come again, right every wrong, wipe away every tear, and bring His people home.
Until that Day comes, we live in the tension, in a broken world with hopeful hearts. We are people who still struggle. We still suffer. And unfortunately we still sin. Yet by grace we have a great high priest — Jesus Christ — who not only reigns from the throne but invites us to draw near as we see in Hebrews 4:14-16:
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
This is the throne of the King of kings, the One who is seated high and holy (Revelation 4), yet He still welcomes sinners and sufferers who have been saved by grace through faith in Him to come boldly. We don’t draw near because we’ve got it all together—we draw near because Jesus does.
This Sunday at Christ Community, Lord willing, we will lift our eyes to the throne, beginning with Psalm 24, asking “Who is this King of Glory?” and joyfully answering, “The LORD of hosts, He is the King of Glory!” (Psalm 24:10)
And then, together, we’ll join the worship of heaven found in Revelation 4 and 5 where saints and angels cry out that Jesus alone is worthy of worship and “holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty”!
You may not feel worthy to approach His throne—I know I don’t. So let’s settle that here: we’re not. But He is. He is worthy of worship, worthy of being sought, worthy of glory, praise, and honor. And He, the Worthy One, has invited us.
He wants us to approach. Because He “has passed through the heavens” (Hebrews 4:14) and sympathizes “with our weaknesses” (Hebrews 4:15). Because He loves us and cares for us and wants to give us the mercy we need and to help us find the grace we need “to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
He wants us.
And because He does, we can approach His throne with the confidence of a toddler approaching their mommy or daddy’s bed to ask for water at three in the morning. If earthly parents and caretakers can show grace like that, how much more will our “great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13)?
So let’s approach together. Let’s lay our burdens down. Let’s seek Him and make much of Him. We may not always feel like it. Everything in life may seem to be pulling us back. But we get to do this. And we need to—if for no other reason than that He wants us to.
1The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, 2for He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.
3Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in His holy place? 4He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. 5He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6Such is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah.
7Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in. 8Who is this King of Glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle! 9Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in. 10Who is this King of Glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of Glory! Selah
8And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
9And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
8And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9And they sang a new song, saying,
“Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
11Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12saying with a loud voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
13And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
14And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
6 “And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant— 7 these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” 8 The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, “I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered.”
The Original Context
Isaiah spoke these words to Israel during a time of spiritual renewal, casting a vision of God’s heart for the nations. In contrast to the idea that Israel alone was God’s chosen people, Isaiah announced that foreigners who loved and followed the Lord were welcomed into His house.
This radical promise highlighted something about God’s covenant: His salvation was never meant for Israel alone because God was gathering worshipers from every tribe and tongue to find joy and belonging in His presence. His temple was never meant to be a barrier but a beacon.
Fulfillment in Jesus
When Jesus entered the temple in the final week of His life, He saw that its courts – meant for Gentile worshipers – had been turned into a marketplace. In righteous anger, He drove out the merchants and quoted Isaiah 56:7 in Matthew 21:13:
“My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you make it a den of robbers.”
Jesus was restoring the temple to its true purpose. And ultimately, He became the new and better temple (John 2:19-21). In Him, all who trust and follow God, all who confess Him as Lord and believe in their hearts He is risen from the dead – regardless of background or nationality – are brought near (Romans 10:9-13, Ephesians 2:11-22).
Hope for Today
Jesus is still gathering outcasts. He is still welcoming foreigners. He is still saving sinners. And He is still building a house of prayer for all peoples.
If you’ve ever felt like an outsider – too far off, too broken, too different, too sinful, too shameful – know this: there is room for you in God’s house. The joy of His presence is not reserved for some select few who have it all together or who have the right genealogy, but offered to all who come to Him through Christ.
This Holy Week, let your prayers rise in confidence and hope. Jesus has not merely opened a way for people to come to Him, He IS the Way (John 14:6), and He prepares a place for Him in His Father’s house for all He saves (John 14:2-3). If He has saved you, you belong there; you are home with Him. And through Him, your worship is welcomed with joy.
22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23 This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save us, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD.
27 The LORD is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar!
The Original Context
Psalm 118 was likely sung during one of Israel’s major festivals, like Passover. It was a song of thanksgiving – a declaration of God’s steadfast love and salvation. The image of the “stone that the builders rejected” (v. 22) captured Israel’s story: once overlooked and often oppressed, now lifted up by the Lord to a place of prominence and purpose. God had done something unexpected and wonderful, and the people were called to rejoice.
In its immediate context, this passage may have celebrated a king’s return to the temple after a victory, or perhaps commemorated God’s steadfast love and deliverance of His people. Verses 25-27 echo the cries of those longing for salvation, welcoming the one who comes in God’s name and leading the sacrifice to the altar in thanksgiving.
Fulfillment in Jesus
Centuries later, as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, the people cried out these very words:
“Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
Their cry of “Hosanna!” literally means “Save us now!” and is the Hebrew word from the beginning of v. 25. They waved palm branches and welcomed Jesus as the promised King. Yet they did not realize the kind of salvation He had come to bring – not military or political victory, but a deeper, eternal rescue.
Jesus is the true and better cornerstone – the One whom the religious “builders” rejected but God exalted (Matthew 21:42, Acts 4:11). He is the foundation of a new and everlasting temple, not made with hands but built through His body, the church (Ephesians 2:19-22). And he did not merely lead the sacrifice to the altar – He Himself was the festal sacrifice. He was not led in by a priest but rode into Jerusalem willingly. He did not have to be bound with cords because He “humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8).
The light of God’s salvation has Indeed shone on us through Jesus. And it is beautiful and marvelous to behold.
Hope for Today
Palm Sunday is a call to see the faithfulness of God in action. What He promised, He fulfilled. The long-awaited King came. The cornerstone was set. The sacrifice was made.
And because “He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23), we too can hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering. Even when we feel rejected, overlooked, or uncertain, we can trust that God is building something good and glorious, even when we cannot fully see it yet.
So today, don’t glance at this moment in Jesus’s story – step into it. Cry out to Him with “Hosanna!” knowing full well that He has saved and will save, knowing that He will meet you in your time of need. Lift your voice in praise and cry out “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” knowing that He was promised to come and that He did – and that He will again! And let your heart rest in the Savior who was once rejected but now reigns forevermore!
Every Sunday, we gather to worship Jesus — the One who has rescued us from darkness and brought us into His glorious Kingdom. We sing to Him and about Him because He alone is worthy!
Colossians 1:13-14 declare this good news:
13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
This is the heart of our worship. We don’t sing to check a box or go through religious motions. We sing because Jesus has saved us! He is the One who gave His life to redeem us, the One who forgives our sins, and the One who rules over all things (Colossians 1:15-20).
This Sunday at Christ Community, the substance of our songs and the sermon John preaches will proclaim Jesus as Savior and Lord, the only hope for the world.
And YOU are INVITED to gather with us!
Here are our Scriptures and songs:
Scripture | Colossians 1:13-20 —
13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
Just Keith Harris 